


Storm

by MTrash (Makaria)



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, omg ALL THE FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 16:53:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4632858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Makaria/pseuds/MTrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A drabble that got a bit out of hand about Rin being an emotional mess and Rei trying to sort out said mess as best as he can. He gets points for effort, the poor nerd.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Storm

Rei wasn't sure what woke him up first - the roar of thunder from outside or a well-aimed kick directly to his shin. Either way, he was abruptly brought to reality with a mild ringing in his ears and a dull throb in his leg.

"OW MOTHER OF F--"

Unscheduled awakenings were probably at the top of Rei's least favorite things in the world, right next to shortage of coffee and textbooks without a neatly organized index at the back. Curse words were completely justified.

He managed to crack open an eyelid through his wince and barely made out the shape tossing beside him on the king-sized bed.

A flash of lightning briefly lit up the dark bedroom.

Rin lied on his side, facing Rei and, judging by his overall restlessness and the way he tangled himself in the covers, he was having a nightmare. Rei rubbed his shin one more time for good measure, temporarily letting go of the pain as he reached and lightly shook Rin by the shoulder.

"Rin..."

Rin grumbled.

"Rin."

A hand shot out - Rei couldn't see it in the dark and without his glasses on - and Rin socked him directly into the chest, knocking the air out of him.

"OW... !!!" Rei doubled over, gasping. Not only did it hurt, it also felt a lot like he was drowning on dry land, which to Rei was logically painful as much as the punch itself. He wheezed in an attempt not to turn blue in the face and when he finally managed to take in a deep, ragged breath, he snatched one of his own pillows and whacked Rin over the head with it. "RIN. WAKE. UP."

Another bolt of lightning streaked the sky outside the window. Rin woke up with a start, sat up with Rei's pillow in his lap and-...

And _trembled_. Rei immediately forgot about his woes at the sight of Rin shaking, _visibly_ shaking, even to a near-blind Rei. He was disoriented, distraught, the T-shirt on his back damp when Rei laid a gentle hand on him.

"Rin..."

Rin turned to him and Rei almost flinched at how wide his eyes were, how scared, so, so very _scared_. For a fraction of a second he was sure that Rin hadn't recognized him, hadn't known where he was. But then a sob escaped Rin's parted lips and he threw himself on Rei, clutched at the front of his violet pajama top and buried his head in the nook of Rei's neck.

"He's gone... He's--... He's gone..." he choked out and Rei felt like he was doused in ice water. He wrapped his arms around Rin, tightly, because his brain had short-circuited in this unexpected turn of events and he had no idea what else to do.

Rin sobbed - Rei could feel his tears warm on his skin - and still trembled, helplessly. Rei's throat clenched up.

He. had. no. _idea_. what. to. do.

Rei was never good at recognizing emotions - one of the reasons he tended to keep them bottled up inside until they exploded out of him in the worst possible moments - but even to him it was obvious that Rin was upset.

The nightmare most likely had something to do with his late father, because not many ' _he's_ ' were decidedly _gone_ from Rin's life (that Rei knew of). Not in a way that would elicit such an unpleasant reaction, at least.

However, despite having successfully recognized the distress and its source, Rei was also definitely not good at _dealing_ with emotions.

He bit his bottom lip, the lump in his throat moving down, becoming bigger, heavier, and settling in quite nicely on his already bruised chest. He couldn't do this. He wasn't equipped with the communication nuances necessary to console the young man he loved while he cried for his long lost parent after a thunderstorm-induced subconscious terror.

Rain pelted against the window. The hands fisted into Rei's top tightened their grip. Rei pulled Rin even closer to him, if that was possible, the two of them huddled up on Rei's side of the bed.

What Rei excelled at was the exact - science, knowledge, _facts_. Something tangible, predictable. Or at least quantifiable. From this whole ordeal, he was probably the most comfortable with the notion of _thunderstorms_.

He looked down at Rin, felt his shaky breath on his neck. And decided.

He was incapable of handling emotions, that much was given. So he was going to use what he _was_ good at - cold, untainted reason.

"...Rin, did you know that thunderstorms go through stages?" he murmured, resting his chin on top of Rin's tousled hair. He paused, waiting for any kind of reaction, but instead only received a tiny sob in response. He took that as his cue to continue. "Yes, there are, in fact, three stages to every thunderstorm: the developing stage, the mature stage and the dissipation stage. The first one, developing stage, is also called the cumulus stage, because of these clouds..."

And he was off. He recited every little bit of information he knew about this particular nature phenomenon (which was no small feat, considering that he spent ages from 12 to 14 wanting to be nothing other than a meteorologist) and he did it slowly, calmly, never letting go of Rin.

"...marks the mature stage of the storm, and produces Cumulonimbus clouds. During this stage, considerable internal turbulence can occur in the storm system, which manifests as strong winds, severe lightning..."

He was partially focused on what he was saying (because he'd be damned if he let wrong data slip out, even under the circumstances), but he was also paying attention to Rin, to the way his sobs became less frequent and not as loud... The way Rin relaxed on top of him.

"... four main types of thunderstorms: single-cell, multicell, squall line and supercell. Which type will form at any given moment depends entirely on the relative wind conditions in different layers of the atmosphere--"

He was cut off by Rin's gruff voice somewhere around his shoulder. "Which-" He sniffed. "Which one do you think this is?"

The hold on Rei's clothes loosened and Rei smiled into the crown of Rin's head, the weight lifting from his chest. "Let's see... I don't hear any hail or strong winds... But this storm has been in effect for already more than an hour... So I'd say it's probably a multicell. Of course, my assumption is only about 14% accurate, since I'd actually have to see the pattern of its-"

"Hah, _nerd_."

That was definitely a small, the tiniest, barely audible laugh. Rei's heart did a backflip.

"Excuse me, I'll have you know that meteorology is, in fact, a very delicate science and that a lot of careful calculations and studying go into-"

Once again Rei's words died out as Rin pressed his warm lips right below his jaw line. Rei hummed, tilted his head into the kiss purely on instinct; he let out a small sigh when Rin continued upwards, nuzzling, kissing until he finally landed on Rei's lips and Rei's skin broke out in goose bumps at the tenderness, at the way Rin's hand cupped his cheek and how his lips were so soft always, _always_...

"Thank you," Rin whispered, parting only enough to utter the words. He gazed into Rei's eyes and Rei felt he could spontaneously combust under the intensity of that gaze, regardless of the dried tears.

"Y-you're welcome."

Rin pressed his forehead to Rei's, _hard_ and Rei understood the gesture - he had done well. His clumsy, frankly _un_ beautiful way of comforting hadn't gone unnoticed.

And feeling proud of himself was definitely not something Rei was a novice at; Rin smiled at his satisfied expression before he nestled back into Rei's side, ready to fall back asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was supposed to be like 500 words but haha, ooops. 
> 
> Every bit of info about storms Rei provides was taken from Wikipedia, so if there are any storm experts reading this and outwardly cringing at how wrong it was, please do let me know :)
> 
> Also, I have a [tumblr](http://makariawritesabout.tumblr.com/) filled with self-indulgent drabbles.


End file.
